5 Haziran 2012 Salı

Global Insider: Turkey, Pakistan Stand By Each Other

Global Insider

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani met in Pakistan two weeks ago under the auspices of the bilateral High-Level Cooperation Council. In an email interview, Ishtiaq Ahmad,
Quaid-i-Azam Fellow at St. Antony’s College and senior research
associate at the Center for International Studies at Oxford University,
discussed relations between Turkey and Pakistan.

WPR: How would you characterize modern Turkish-Pakistani relations, and how have they evolved over the past decade?

Ishtiaq Ahmad:
The Turkish-Pakistani relationship is rooted in history and defined by
the existence of deep ethno-religious affinity between the people of
both countries. Despite being geographically separated and ideologically
distinct, the two countries have always aspired to expand mutual
cooperation in the political, economic, security and cultural spheres.

In
the post-Cold War period, Turkish-Pakistani relations have made
significant progress toward realizing tangible outcomes in these
diversified areas of cooperation, especially in trade and investment. In
the 1990s, three Turkish construction companies entered the Pakistani
market with pledges of almost $1.5 billion.

The past decade has
seen increasing cooperation between the two countries in the security
sphere, especially due to the war in Afghanistan, where Turkey is an
important member of the International Security Assistance Force. They
have also stood by each other in times of natural disaster. WPR: What are the main areas of cooperation and conflict between Turkey and Pakistan?

Ahmad:
At present, the focus of Turkish-Pakistani bilateral cooperation is on
enhancing the level of bilateral trade, which is currently around $1
billion. Efforts are underway to double the level of trade this year by
expediting the implementation of a currency swap agreement concluded in
November 2001. Over the years, the two countries have created an array
of institutional setups to foster bilateral trade, business, investment
and defense production, including a Joint Ministerial Commission, a
Defense Consultative Group and a High-Level Cooperation Council. The
council, established in 2010, had its second meeting in Islamabad on May
22, during which the Turkish and Pakistani prime ministers signed nine
agreements regarding Turkish investment in several developmental sectors
in Pakistan, including transportation, communication and renewable
energy.

The two countries’ political ties have deepened to the
extent that the Turkish leadership now even mediates between the
Pakistani government and opposition leadership. And in regional
diplomacy over Afghanistan, the Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral
Forum has emerged as an important platform.

There is no major area of conflict, except the ongoing row over a Turkish rental power plant company whose assets were frozen
after the Pakistani Supreme Court put a hold on the government’s rental
power bid. Afghanistan could re-emerge as an area of divergence, but
only if Pakistan actively seeks to support the Taliban’s political
revival in Afghanistan.

WPR: What role do the two
countries play in their respective broader foreign policy objectives
(Turkey in South Asia and Pakistan in the Mideast)?

Ahmad:
With an eastern impulse in foreign affairs under the present
government, Turkey is engaged more proactively in South Asia. The
trilateral mechanism with Afghanistan and Pakistan is an expression of
this policy shift. As a NATO member and a longstanding friend of
Pakistan, Turkey is trying to ensure that Pakistan is not regionally or
internationally isolated as a result of the recent breakdown of
U.S.-Pakistan relations.

As for Pakistan’s role in the Middle
East, the principal motivation behind Islamabad’s greater engagement
with the Persian Gulf countries in the past few decades is the economic
benefits it brings in the form of oil imports, investments and
remittances. Pakistan looks favorably at the significant growth in
Turkey’s Middle Eastern diplomatic profile in recent years -- a factor
that may open up additional economic opportunities in the region through
Turkish support.